Sylvania



0.8. MILLS STARTING SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES. v APPLICATION FILED JUNE30, I915- RENEWED DEC. 2, I918.

1,343,222. PatentedJune15, 1920.

"In v Fly. 2.

76 2 f/lggfer 19. 44/7/5 v f v TTORNEY UNITED. STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

CHESTER B. MILLS, OF EAST MGKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1920.

Application filed June 30, 1915, Serial No. 37,247. Renewed December 2, 1918. Serial No. 265,048.

v To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESTER B; MILLs, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident connection to the shafts of internal combustion engines.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple arrangement whereby the armature of a dynamo-electric machine may be reciprocated longitudinally with a strong force, while little or no torque is effective to rotate the armature.

Starting motors have, been provided with v normally displaced armatures,but the sysmature that is normally displaced longitudi nally. The commutator brushes are initems embodying such arrangements possess a number of disadvantages. essary to employ auxiliary switching mechanisms of a complicated nature either for temporarily shunting the motor armature or for controlling a. resistor that is in circuit with it. Such an arrangement is necessary because, in the displaced position of the armature, the' torque is sufficiently high. to

meshed because there is little or no lateral pressure between their respective teeth to re tard their relativeslidable movements.

I provide an electric motor having an artially displaced angularly approximately 90 electrical degrees from their normal'operating position. The brushes are shifted to their running position while the armature is shifted to its central osition to effect the engagement of the coactmg gear wheels.

It has been nee When the motor circuit is closed, with the commutator brushes in their displaced positions, the magnetic field produced by the armature winding is displaced an amount corresponding to the angular displacement of the brushes. Sincethe magnetic fields produced by the armature winding and the field magnet winding substantially coincide, there is little or no tendency for the armature to rotate. The longitudinal pull is sufficient, however, to shift the armature and thereby establish driving connections between the motor and the engine shaft. When the brushes are shifted to their running positions, normal operating conditions are produced, and full torque is effective to rotate the armature to crank the engine.

The details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a view, in transverse section, on line I-I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side view, partially in elevation and partially in section, oi a portion of an engine fly wheel with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of circuits and apparatus embodying my invention. 2

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, an engine fly wheel 1, only a portion of which is shown, is provided with gear teeth 2. An electric motor 3, which is adapted to be operatively connected to the fly wheel 1, comprises field-magnet pole pieces 4, series field-magnet windings Q5, and an armature 6 that is arranged for longitudinal movement in bearings -7. A spring 8, which is interposed between one end of the armature shaft 9 and an extended portion 10 of the motor casing, tends to maintain the armature in a displaced position relatively to the field-magnet frame, as illustrated. The armature shaft 9 is provided with a pinion 11 which coacts with the gear teeth 2 to operatively connect the motor to the engine shaft. w

The commutator cylinder 12 is of such length that it is in engagement with coacting brushes 13 throughout the longitudinal movements of the armature. -The commutator brushes 13 are secured to a member 1a of ring-shape which is rotatably mounted upon one of the bearings 7 The member 14 is provided with a leverarm 15 by means of which it may be adjusted. The motor frame is provided with a slot 16 within which the lever arm 15 may be moved.

Reference may now be had to Fig. 3 in which the circuits and apparatus employed in connection with my invention are dia- 'amn1ati -ally shown. A pedal lever 17, which is connected to the lever 15, is also connected to a switch member 18 which coacts with contact segments 19 to control the motor circuit. Normally, a spring 20 retains the pedal lever 17 in its illustrated or inoperative position, with the motor circuit open and the commutator brushes 13 in their displaced positions.

It may be assumed that the several parts are in their respective illustrated positions, with the pinion 11 out of engagement with the gear teeth 2. To start the engine, the pedal lever 17 is actuated forwardly to cause the switch member 18 to bridge the contact segments 19 and thereby close the motor circuit. Because of the low resistance of the circuit, a heavy current traverses the motor windings, and the field magnet poles exert a strong magnetic force to shift the armature 6 to its central position and thereby effect the meshing of the pinion 11 with the gear teeth 2.

\Vhen the motor circuit is initially closed and the commutator brushes are in their positions of maximum displacement, the mag netic field produced by the armature winding is approximately 90 electrical degrees from its normal position. Consequently, little or no torque is effective to rotate the armature. The pedal lever 17 is actuated forwardly with a continuous movement, and the brushes are shifted gradually to their normal position, the switch member 18 remaining in engagement with the contact se ments 19.

If the movement of the pedal lever 17 has been properly timed, the brushes 13 will have reached their operative positions substantially at the same time that the armature has completed its longitudinal movement. The rotative movement of the brushes operates to gradually shift the mag netic field of the armature to its normal position, and, when the pedal lever has reached the end of its path of movement, full torque is effective to rotate the armature, and the fly wheel 2 is rotated to crank the engine.

When the engine starts under its own power, the pedal lever 17 is released by the operator and the spring 20 returns it and its connected mechanism to their respective illustrated positions. The armature 6 will then be returned to its displaced position by the spring 8 which has been under compression. The brushes 13 are then in their displaced positions in readiness for the succeeding starting operation.

If the operator fails to open the motor circuit immediately after the engine starts, the motor will be driven at a rapidly increasing speed. The counter-electromotive force of the motor is thereby increased to reduce the current traversing its winding to such value that the longitudinal pull exerted by the field-magnet poles is less than the force of the spring 8, whereupon the armature is shifted to its displaced position and the pinion 11 is disengaged from the gear teeth 2. It is obvious, therefore, that no damage maybe caused by a failure to open the switch at the proper time.

It will be understood that the number of field-magnet poles shown and described is illustrative only, and that a motor having any convenient number of poles may be employed. It will be understood, also, that the motor circuit and the position of the commutator brushes may be simultaneously controlled by any suitable means. Other changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a starting system, the combination with an electric motor having a longitudinally shiftable armature and angularly shiftable commutator brushes, of means for simultaneously controlling the motor circuit to shift said armature and shifting said brushes angularly.

2. In a starting system, the combination with an engine member, and an electric motor having a longitudinally 'shiftable armature adapted for operative connection to said engine member, of means for simultaneously controlling the motor circuit to shift said armature and varying the angular position of the electrical connections of said armature.

3. In a starting system, the combination with an engine member, and an electric motor having a longitudinally shiftable armature adapted for operative connection with said engine member, said armature having commutator brushes, of means for simultaneously effecting the energization of said armature for longitudinally shifting it to effect connection between the motor and the engine member and the angular shifting of said commutator brushes.

4:. In a starting system, the combination with an engine member, an electric motor having a longitudinally shiftable armature, said armature, upon energization of the motor, being shifted for effecting operative connection between the motor and said engine member, and commutator brushes for said armature, of a single controlling device for insuring the shifting of said brushes angularly while said armature is being shifted longitudinally.

5. In a starting system, the combination of means for simultaneously effecting the with an electric motor having an armature return of said armatureand said brushes that is displaced longitudinally from its opto their respective operative positions. 10 erative position and having commutator In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 5 brushes that are displaced angularly when subscribed my name this 23rd day of June,

the motor is inoperative, said armature be- 1915. ing shifted upon energization of the motor, CHESTER B. MILLS. 

